Dark Side Shines in ‘Deep Into That Darkness Peering’ Exhibit

Don Bjarke’s ‘Exhumed,’ and Josephine Caffrey’s ‘Monster Raven’  show the tone of the exhibit. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
Henry Finney’s multi-media piece ‘Raven.’ Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
Marcia Clasgens’ ‘Raku Vase.’ Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
 
By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post

A quotation from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven” inspired the artists of the latest show at Fuller Lodge Art Center. “Deep Into That Darkness Peering opens 5-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4  with an artist’s reception and continues through Nov. 16.

Emotional and physical darkness, scary feelings, ravens and Poe himself were some of the themes explored by artists participating in the show. The show includes sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography and mixed media pieces.

Photographer Harold Hall’s ‘Embrace the Moon.’ Courtesy photo

One interesting aspect of this show is that it contains so many paintings that look like photographs and photographs that look like paintings. Juror Victoria Stamm’s photograph, Havana Noiris one example. A golden, glowing stairway leads the viewer into a darkness hiding, who knows what? Photographer Harold Hall’s “Embrace the Moon” and “Into That Darkness” expose the eerie allure of a forest at night.

‘Nevermore’ by Jim Forcier-Call. Courtesy photo

There are a number of interesting multi-media pieces in the show, including “Nevermore” by Jim Forcier-Call. The Jemez Springs artist presents more than one side of a raven in this piece.

“This particular assemblage sculpture includes the base of a vintage high altar candlestick, which ‘once graced the altar of Sacred Heart Basilica at Notre Dame University,’ according to a friend who owned it,” Forcier-Call wrote in his artist statement. “The raven’s body is a piece of wood that was found in the forest during a firewood expedition. Originally I was going to carve into the wood but decided to honor the beautiful shape already there. The broken digital stopwatch with a shattered face intersected by Lenore’s hand on one side and Poe’s image on the other is from a recycle bin.”

Los Alamos artist Henry Finney’s multi-media piece “Raven” features the bird’s skeleton mounted above a glowing circle that creates a feeling of the continuum of life and death.

Marcia Clasgens of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo has a raku vase in the show that might be described as a glimmering dark crescent moon.

The theme has inspired a very interesting show that will have gallery visitors plumbing dark depths on many levels.

The featured Portal Gallery artist is photographer Karen Waters. Her work, often incorporating ravens, is a perfect complement to the main gallery show.

“I refer to my work as ‘Photographic Art’ because it reaches beyond traditional photography and allows me the freedom to bring my images to life in a way that the lens alone cannot capture,” Waters wrote in her artist statement. “Through these images, I wish to share my visions of the world, as it is now and as it can be, and to bring an awareness that there is more to this magnificent world than meets the eye…”

Waters has printed a number of her photographs on aluminum. This gives an interesting and painterly feel and texture to her work.

‘The Messenger Brings the Message’ series by Karen Waters. Courtesy photo

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